British workers’ earnings after inflation contracted at the fastest pace since 2014 in the three months to April, underscoring the growing Brexit squeeze facing many households, official data showed this morning.

The figures showed the challenge facing Prime Minister Theresa May and her new government, with signs that households are feeling the strain of rising prices since last year’s vote to leave the European Union, weighing on the broader economy.

Talks between Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party and Prime Minister Theresa May’s Conservatives on supporting the British leader’s minority government restarted on Wednesday, a senior Conservative source said.

May and DUP leader Arlene Foster held more than an hour of talks on Tuesday, after which Foster said an agreement, which is expected to be more informal than a coalition, could be done “sooner rather than later”.

The dollar steadied on Wednesday ahead of a Federal Reserve policy statement widely expected to raise interest rates for the third time in six months but also to signal doubts over how soon it may make its next move